Firefox 3 Goes Beta

Following eight alpha versions, Mozilla has now released for first beta of version three of the Firefox web browser.

Firefox 3.0 has thus negotiated yet another milestone en route to the planned released date some time in the fist half of next year. In the release notes the developers point out that this is still a test version and not designed for production deployment. Additionally, the beta may not support any add-ons or plugins users have installed for Firefox 2.

The new features in version 3.0 include the Gecko 1.9 engine as the web rendering platform which should provide vastly improved performance and stability. The new Firefox will also be more secure than previous versions. To achieve this the developers have introduced new SSL error pages and malware protection. Additionally, one click pages will provide information on the page source. The download manager now gives users the ability to integrate a commercial virus scanner.

Features such as simpler password management and add-on installation all help to improve usability. At the same time, the browser will offer more customization options. A star button will give users the ability to tag interesting web pages; bookmark and history organizers, and tag functions, let users modify Firefox 3.0 to reflect their personal needs.

If you are interested in testing Firefox 3.0b1, go to the download page here. Tips on installing the program and removing the beta if worst comes to worst, are also available from the Mozilla homepage.